Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmin McGee.
Hi Jasmin, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story – as synopsized as possible is the following:
My parents immigrated to the United States in 1972 from Germany, where they met. My mother is German. My father was Iranian. I am the oldest of the oldest on my paternal side, and the first child born in the United States in my family. I was born in 1975 and raised in Dallas, TX, and its surrounding areas for the first 9 years of my life. I lived on a sheep ranch with so many other farm animals to care for and play with. We had a one-acre garden where my mother grew her own vegetables and fruit trees. We went to German School in Dallas and traveled between the city and country each week for school.
On the ranch, I saw new life come into the world. I also experienced loss. I learned what death was and that it was a part of the natural order of living. I began to understand that all living beings and objects have a beginning and an end. This was profound in my early life and would begin to shape the person I am now.
In the mid-80s, we moved to Tehran, Iran. This was during the time of the Iran-Iraq Revolution. There was a ceasefire, and the belief was that the war was over. However, this was not the case. In the winter months with deep snow surrounding us, the ceasefire broke, and I experienced the depth and trauma of war. I saw the devastation and destruction of lives and livelihoods of friends, family, and ordinary people every day. I witnessed piles of rubble that were once buildings and the bodies of people found under the rubble lying on the side of the road. I experienced a sense of fear and anxiety as a young girl that I never could have imagined. The deep fears that overcame me were from the sounds of the air-raid sirens going off at all times during the day warning all to seek shelter from the coming bombings. The sounds of the bombs and the vibrations felt when they were close. The sounds of jet engines as they flew overhead. The feel of sitting in my home completed void of all light so as not to be a target for the bombs at night. And the colors of the air-to-ground missiles – like fireworks in the night sky. The trauma of that I witnessed still lives in my body, and I’ve never forgotten what that level of loss looks like, smells like, tastes, and feels like.
At that young age, I understood how fragile my own life was and what death and dying is on a completely different level. THIS was the second time I came face-to-face with the concept of mortality, and my understanding of death and loss deepened. Most importantly, my compassion for the effects of loss and death deepened.
My family escaped the war through the mountain passes between Iran and Turkey. We smuggled out 3 other families. By the time we arrived in Ankara, Turkey, we were all ill with dysentery from the water and food we could find. My mother, being a registered nurse, made the decision to stop our travels as the goal was to reach Istanbul. Instead, we flew to Germany and convalesced in my grandmother’s home in Rotenburg an der Fulda.
After a time when we all regained our health, we moved to the small summer bungalow my mother inherited in Niendorf an der Ostsee. There, we lived and went to school for 2 years.
I went from war to freedom in what felt like a blink of an eye. And there, we began the healing process.
The experience of living in Germany was heavenly. We went from fear, trauma, and a war-ravaged period of time to freedom, swimming in the bay, and spending all day at the beach with friends – collecting shells and pretty rocks. I still love the smell of the sea air and the feel of sand under my feet. THIS represented freedom to me. The power of the ocean was freeing as it held me and carried me with the waves. The echoes of some of the happiest moments of my life remain in our tiny Ferienhaus on the beautiful gravel road I lived on called Hainbuchenweg.
After approximately 2 years in Germany, we moved back to the United States. We moved first to the East Coast and lived in Greensboro, NC for 2 years before returning back to Dallas, TX.
I finished school and went on to attend University of Texas at Dallas, where I received my degree in Geosciences. I supported my friend at that time whose grandmother was dying. We sat with her – holding vigil every day. When she passed, this was my first experience being with the body of a loved one who had died. It was humbling, and I was glad we could be there before she died to tell her that we loved her.
I was also blessed to live in Mandeville, LA on the Northshore of New Orleans for a few years after college. I moved back to Dallas just months before Hurricane Katrina hit the New Orleans area.
And after a year of being back in Dallas, I had the opportunity to move to Houston. And I’ve been here ever since.
I went back to school and received my Mechanical Engineering Technology degree as well as my Drafting Certification. I began working at Versabar, Inc. in June of 2009. I am a 3D Senior Structural Designer at Versabar, working alongside the engineers in my company.
Little did I know that once again, life was going to teach me more about the depth of loss, grief, and what a blessing death can be to those suffering. THIS particular time in my life became the catalyst to my true awakening.
In 2010, I met my late husband, Patrick. We were married in 2013. 6 months after we wed, he began showing signs and symptoms of a rare autoimmune disorder called Dermatomyositis. As I watched him suffer and decline, I was awakened to the reality that our greatest wealth is our health. I understood, whilst watching my husband weaken and become a shadow of the man he once was, that this was my wake-up call to take control of my health and wellbeing.
In 2016, I began my journey back to health. I was severely diabetic and on a lot of medication to control my health issues. The shift in health for me began when I changed my relationship with food. I began exercising – walking and swimming. I regained my mental and physical health, and at that time lost 100 lbs. I understood that I could not be unhealthy and have the capacity to care for my husband who was very ill.
Patrick fought the autoimmune disorder for years; however, in 2017, I noticed the enlargement of his cervical lymph nodes. 4 months after the throat cancer diagnosis, he died in my arms in our home.
His death was my MOST profound awakening. This is the shift that changed everything in my life.
I gave myself some time to grieve, and by early 2018, I chose to LIVE. I chose life. I chose to break the legacy of painful experiences from the time I was a young girl. I chose to honor myself and this life I have. I chose to honor my body that is the home of my soul. I chose to live a life of no regrets knowing that one day soon, I, too, will take my last breath.
I began exercising more and eating even better.
I found deep and profound love when I met Brendon. He is the most amazing man who was then and is still now so supportive, encouraging, and inspiring to me. He has blessed my life in ways I never thoughts possible. He cheered me on and boosted my confidence to start strength training and taking control of my life.
I began working with Jordan Leason of Houston Strength, a private training facility in Spring Branch. I’ve been training with Jordan for 5 years now, and I am a competitive Powerlifter. Being strong in mind, body, heart, and spirit is a blessing. I broke Texas State Records whilst competing. And I cannot imagine my life without strength training in it.
I lost another 100 lbs. once I started strength training. With a total of 200 lbs. lost, I find myself in the best health I’ve ever been. I was taken off of all medication. I have been prescription-free for more than 2 years now. I am in the best health I’ve ever been in my whole life.
And amidst all of these experiences, I had life reminding me that it is a blessing to have my health and be alive.
Because of my experience in supporting my late husband as he was dying, I found myself being sought out to support friends and their loved ones who were dying. I found myself able to hold space for them as they managed and processed the news that death was imminent. I offered support as my friends learned the ins and outs of Advanced Directives, Power of Attorneys, and what was required to create a Last Will & Testament. I supported families as they reconciled their relationships. I also helped create peace for those dying by curating a space filled with their favorite music, candle scents in the air, their pets beside them, reading from their favorite books, and holding vigil.
In 2022, I had the privilege to meet and make a dear friend in Tessara when I attended one of her Yoga classes. Through her, I met another inspiring and blessed friend, Francine. These two amazing women along with my partner, Brendon, all supported and encouraged me to begin my journey as a Yoga teacher – something that I had envisioned for myself. I completed 500 hours of teacher training by mid-2023 through Ashe Yoga School in Houston, TX.
I am a trauma-informed Yin Yoga and Restorative Yoga teacher as well as a Yoga Nidra guide registered through Yoga Alliance.
I own my own business called Snow Poppy Yoga. I chose the Snow Poppy flower to represent me and my offerings because a white poppy flower is the symbol of Ahimsa and peace.
Ahimsa implies non-harm to any living being in thought, deed, or word – including to ourselves. Ahimsa encourages peace and calm to be cultivated within ourselves and in all beings. This creates the fertile ground in which we can grow and expand like a seed into a fully blossomed flower. It is also a part of the first of the 8 Limbs of Yoga called the Yamas.
My deepest intention with my Yoga offerings with Snow Poppy Yoga is to create an energetic container where each person attending class feels held and free to curate the moment of peace they require for their lives and well-being.
I’ve also partnered with a team of specialists, and we created Interconnected Private Wellness Practice. We provide holistic, safe spaces of healing and wellness for individuals or groups. We believe in personal and collective growth.
And steeped within my own personal growth, I finally understood that my highest calling is to support those who are facing their mortality. I had been supporting friends and family for years in this way. Now was my time to become formally trained to offer this level of care.
So once again, I went back into training, and this time I completed the training, exams, and certification process to become a Death Doula, also known as an End-of-Life Doula or Practitioner. I completed this training through Going with Grace founded by Alua Arthur, a well-known Death Doula based out of California.
I registered with the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance (NEDA). I took their proficiency exam and became a NEDA Proficient member of their organization.
I am a Death Doula guiding those facing their death to find peace and grace in the dying process. I offer support and guidance to the caretakers, friends, families, and loved ones supporting their beloved who is dying. I also create End-of-Life care plans for those healthy individuals with an understanding that life will come to an end; therefore, they want to curate their own peace of mind by logistically and practically preparing for it.
I joined and created my own Death Cafe to be offered to community. It is called Peace with Death Cafe and will begin in January of 2024. Death Cafes were started as a way to curate safe, inclusive, judgment-free spaces where community can gather and talk about death and dying in a supportive, positive manner… all whilst enjoying coffee, tea, and cake or pastries.
I also understood why I was drawn to become educated in the forms of Yoga I teach and guide. Interoceptive awareness is key in Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga, and Yoga Nidra. And these forms of Yoga offer individuals the gift of stillness, time, peace, and rest to connect back to themselves in mind, body, heart, and spirit. Yoga Nidra is also a form of Yoga that can be an essential tool to bring a deep sense of peace to those who are dying. It is an honor to offer Yoga Nidra to all who seek out peace, rest, and restoration.
All of my life experiences – the joyful ones and the deeply painful ones – have helped me walk the path that I embody today. I embody peace in all that I do for my community – especially in all of the services I provide as a Yoga teacher and as a Death Doula.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Life has not been a smooth road. And still, every experience has been a deep blessing – the good ones and the bad ones. I survived war. I survived loss. I survived grief and its effects on my mind, body, heart, and spirit. I survived the twists and turns of life. And most recently, the loss of my father, who died in May of 2023
And through it all, I’ve remained grounded. I’ve remained positive. I’ve looked for and have found the blessings in each scenario of my life. I embrace the challenges of life knowing that these moments are profound teachers in this lifetime for me. I continue to learn, expand, and grow. I seek out the better versions of me and bring these better versions to those I hold space for. I live my Yoga on and off the mat. I continue to choose life and choose to create and live my best life. I do this all because I KNOW that each breath, I take is a gift. One day, I, too, will take my last breath. And I will do my best to take this last breath with grace and deep peace – as happily and contentedly as possible.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Snow Poppy Yoga?
I am very proud of how and why I chose the name of Snow Poppy Yoga for my business. The tenet of Snow Poppy Yoga is Ahimsa – a pathway to bring peace and love to Community. White-petaled Poppy flowers represent a lasting commitment to peace, non-harm, and non-violence. They are a tangible symbol of Ahimsa – Patanjali’s first Yama – the first limb of the 8 Limbs of Yoga. In addition, Snow Poppy flowers are found in the woodlands of Eastern China. Yin is an East Asian influenced form of Yoga, which incorporates the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is a form of Yoga that I specialize in on my platform. Therefore, Snow Poppy flowers became the perfect symbol to represent my platform and offerings, and that is how Snow Poppy Yoga got its name.
My journey began with a deep belief in being in service to community. That remains true today and always will remain true for my offerings.
I am a trauma-informed, registered Yoga teacher through Yoga Alliance. My offerings include Yin Yoga, fully supported Restorative Yoga, and I am also a trained Yoga Nidra guide. With my offerings, my hope is to provide community a measure of peace in mind, body, heart, and spirit by resting and restoring individually and collectively.
Yin Yoga is a quiet, contemplative, slow-paced style of Yoga that builds resilience in the body. It bypasses muscular activation and focuses on the connective tissues of the body – the joints, tendons, and fascia. Yin Yoga asks the practitioner to come to the edge of a pose, find stillness, and hold the pose for a set amount of time. This style of Yoga gifts the practitioner the space and time to go inward and reflect – to practice interoception.
Restorative Yoga is a fully supported, slow-paced practice offering absolute comfort in order for the practitioner to completely relax the body and mind in order to experience deep rest. Each pose is held for an extended period of time requiring no effort from the practitioner once they are settled into the pose. Restorative Yoga is absolutely essential in resetting the nervous system and promotes healing and balance. This practice gifts the practitioner the time to find peace in mind, body, heart, and spirit.
Yoga Nidra is a state of consciousness practiced during Savasana. It promotes deep rest and calms the nervous system. In Yoga Nidra, the practitioner is guided to a state between waking and sleeping. The physical and breath body find a sense of balance. The conscious and unconscious mind experiences the deepest levels of bliss and self-awareness. This practice gifts the practitioner with a feeling of wholeness, connection, and the awareness of the purest essence of themselves.
As a trained and certified Death Doula or End-of-Life Doula, it is my intention and hope to help curate and cultivate a deep sense of peace and support to individuals facing death and going through the dying process, as well as being a support to the family members, friends, and loved ones encircling them. The emotional, spiritual, and practical care and services offered are holistic and non-medical. I also offer continued support and guidance after death. My services are available to all individuals who intend to get their affairs in order and gift themselves with peace of mind. Therefore, my services are available to individuals whether you are healthy or in the acute stages of terminal illness and the dying process.
My Death Doula offerings include and are not limited to creating a care plan and subsequent arrangements in order to prepare for a peaceful death. I can offer guidance and assistance with the practicalities surrounding end-of-life.
Death is unavoidable. It would be an honor to help you imagine and plan for your most ideal, peaceful passing. This affords you the freedom to live your best life with true peace of mind for however long that may be.
I deeply believe that conversations about death and dying are imperative to have. Therefore, I have created my own Death Cafe. Peace with Death Cafe is a trauma-informed, nonjudgmental, inclusive monthly gathering for community to bring peaceful awareness to and have discourse about death in order to live our best lives. As a trauma-informed teacher and space holder, it is an honor to curate a safe space for individuals to gather, hold discussions about death and dying, and do so in a positive and uplifting manner whilst eating delicious treats with tea or coffee. My hope is that individuals who attend a gathering know they will be heard and seen. I want community to leave a gathering feeling more at ease and peaceful – hopefully even joyful.
What I feel sets me apart is that I can solely offer my services as a Yoga teacher and guide. I can offer my services to community as a Death Doula. And the gift is that I can combine my offerings as a Yoga teacher and Death Doula and bring both practices together. To the individual who is dying and going through the dying process, I can offer them Yoga Nidra as a form of curating peace at the end of their life. I can offer my services as a Yoga teacher to the caretakers and family members who may be filled with stress and anxiety – who are grief-stricken – and bring them to a place of peace in the Yoga practice where they can process the loss of their loved one. As a trained trauma-informed space holder, I can curate and create safe containers for all people to receive the care they need to come to a place of peace in mind, body, heart, and spirit.
I teach a weekly virtual Zoom class. I also teach a weekly, in-person class. I am available to teach and hold space for private clients on a 1:1 basis. I also collaborate with my team through Interconnected Private Wellness Practice by co-hosting workshops, Community Circles, Grief Circles, and trainings.
My website has my current schedule and all of my offerings listed therein.
I also collaborate with community and provide service opportunities, which are also posted on my website.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up.
I have many amazing childhood memories – even with the chaos that I experienced. If I had to narrow it down, I believe that my favorite memories stem from the time I lived in Germany. Waking up early in the morning in our tiny little village of Niendorf. Riding my bike to the bakery to pick up fresh rolls for breakfast. Riding my bike to school with my friends. Learning how to play the Recorder in school. Playing Barbies with my friends. Spending hours on the beach with friends and family. Eating Italian ice cream on the Promenade. Swimming out to the sandbanks in the bay to find and collect the best seashells. Swimming in the indoor Natatorium. Going for long walks with my mother and siblings. And finding peace and solitude in the tiny cemetery in Niendorf where I could hide from the world and read my favorite books and graphic novels. My memories are filled with the freedom I had living in a small summer beach village. I was at peace. I was happy. And I was free.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.snowpoppyyoga.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/snow.poppy.yoga/
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@snowpoppyyoga
- Other: https://sites.google.com/view/interconnectedwellnesstx
Image Credits
Jasmin McGee
